Crumbling
by mmcnmb1
Summary: Ruby knows she's breaking down, but she has long accepted that fact as reality. Until the day where it slips out of control. Prequel to Crimson Red but can be read separately.


**I should be sleeping, but instead I'm doing this. Enjoy!**

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Ruby knew she was breaking, crumbling into a fraction of what she was, but she couldn't find the strength to care. She was tired, so tired. Tired of fighting, tired of running, tired of crying.

Her memory was in fragments, she could barely remember her own name, let alone who she used to be. Sometimes she would see faces in her dreams, loving expressions full of care and trust. Those were the dreams that she woke up from sobbing uncontrollably. She never could recall them completely afterwards though, and they faded soon enough.

She looked around at the ruins she sat in, they almost reminded her of herself in a way. A shadow of their former glory.

 _"I'm still as strong as ever, stronger than you."_ The familiar voice rang through her head.

"Shut up Crimson, I still want control." Ruby muttered back, even knowing that it would have no effect.

 _"Your falling, your breaking, I'm not. I can accomplish what you can't even hope to do, get revenge."_ Crimson said coaxingly.

"Revenge." Ruby growled her mind flashing back to the glimpses of her past that she jealously guarded. A dark land, filled with grimm; a woman of sorts, covered in black veins; questions, pain, confinement, torture; the man with the scorpion tail. She knew she had escaped somehow, and had ran, stowed away, heading to the last place she remembered clearly; the continent Anima.

 _"Revenge."_ Crimson hummed in agreement, then went silent, leaving Ruby to dwell in her thoughts once more.

Ruby never questioned Crimsons existence, maybe others would have, but not her. Worn and battered after being confronted by a group of bandits, she had welcomed the strange presence forth. When Ruby had awakened, she was sitting in a pool of blood and bodies with Crimson's voice echoing inside her head. She had accepted the entity as her other half in a matter of minutes, no denial, no attempted expulsion, just acceptance.

A part of Ruby thought that maybe she had been born broken, with Crimson always there, just waiting to show herself. Another part thought that maybe Crimson had been born when Ruby had first felt true loss, and had waited since then. Another thought that Crimson had been born during the time she spent with the black-veined woman. Another reasoned with all the others, saying that it didn't matter, that nothing mattered anymore.

That final part of her was right, nothing mattered, not to Ruby. She did nothing with her days, she had no real purpose, no real goal. All she had to live on was the thought of finding that woman; somewhere, anywhere.

Wandering aimlessly, Ruby hunted for her food, stole the things she needed from towns she passed by, and interrogated any who managed to catch her.

Ruby let those who found her leave alive, Crimson offered no such mercy. Ruby had been lectured many a time by Crimson, who tried to convince her that it was to their benefit if they left no survivors. Ruby ignored her when it came down to that, she wouldn't kill, it was an instinct from her old life that she desperately clung to. If she broke it, then Ruby had the sneaking suspicion that what little was left of who she was would snap, and she didn't want that, ever.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!" The raucous cry of a crow shot through the air, startling Ruby form her thoughts. She jumped up and whipped around, eyes frantically searching for the source. She found it sitting on the top of the crumbling wall she had been sitting against.

"Calm down Ruby, it's just a bird, just a bird. It's not going to hurt you, breathe." Ruby soothed her panicked breaths, taking her hand from where it had been poised to draw Crescent Rose. She sat back down, laughing bitterly to herself. "Wow Ruby, nice one, getting scared by some dumb bird."

The bird's presence calmed her considerably, although Ruby couldn't tell what about it made it so calming. It brought a warm feeling that bubbled in her chest, familiar and comforting. She wondered if she might have had a pet bird before, maybe one named Uncle Qrow; the name just sounded so right to her ears.

"So I guess your name is Uncle Qrow, huh?" Ruby said teasingly to the bird. To her surprise it jumped back as if it was startled and fell to the ground; how peculiar, and adorable.

"Not a fan of people talking to you? Don't worry, I can relate, I'm not much of a people person and neither is Crimson." Ruby reassured the startled bird as it flew back up onto the wall. It turned its head, looking as confused as a bird could look, the sight put a small smile on Ruby's face.

"Wondering who Crimson is little guy? That makes two of us." Ruby chuckled despite herself, the crow was giving her an eager look now, and the mere sight of it was enough to set off a chain reaction of mirth in her chest. It bubbled up in the form of a wheezy laugh, raw from inexperience and unfamiliarity.

After the laughter died from her chest, a yawn rose to take its place. Ruby looked with surprise at the fading sunlight, barely peeking over the horizon.

"Sorry little guy, but I need my sleep, I have big plans for tomorrow. It'll be the first town I've been to in a while, how nice." Ruby muttered sleepily, pulling up her hood and curling up on the ground as she was lulled into sleep. She felt the soft brush of feathers against her face, and opened her eyes to see the crow settling itself in front of her face, looking very content.

"S'okay little guy, you can stay if you want. Even if it won't be for long." Ruby murmured, curling herself into a tighter ball as her hands subconsciously wrapped themselves around the bird's body.

The bird gave her a concerned look as she shut her eyes again, its head coming to rest against her cheek comfortingly. Staying there even when the nightmares struck, sending Ruby into a twitching, stuttering, and weeping mess. Even when her dreams almost caused her to send it flying, the crow stayed throughout the night.

"Come here little rose." The sinister words and soft touch make her blood go cold. "Do you know who I am?" A question, she doesn't know the answer, and never learns.

Pain, coursing through her, ripping screams from her throat. She doesn't want to scream, she doesn't want to give them the satisfaction, but she can't help it and it infuriates her.

 _"Suffer like I did girl." She can hear the grudge in their voice, the woman whose eyes twinkled like vengeful embers. She doesn't know who they are though, she can't remember that face or those eyes, even if they are screaming at her mind to remember._

 _A Grimm, unlike any that she's ever seen, hissing as it's serpentine form moved fast as lightning. It's whip-like tail tipped with a poisonous barb, lashing out even faster than she could run. They threw her in with it, without a weapon, hoping for something she guessed. Something with her eyes, it's half of what they talked about after all. Every time they came to see her, it was eyes this and eyes that. She was half-tempted to just give them her eyes and seeing if they let her leave, well not seeing to be exact but close enough._

 _She's strapped to a table, the cold woman standing over her shoulder with a jellyfish of sorts. And then there's more pain, except it's inside her head this time, probing, searching for something. It shoves itself deeper, through her mental blockades. But it couldn't, it shouldn't, her precious thoughts were there, the ones she cherished. She pushed them down, away from the searching force. No good, it kept searching further and further. She kept pushing them down more, and more, and more, and more, and then…_

Ruby bolts up, tears streaming down her face and a concerned crow looking up at her. She pets the crow absentmindedly as the tears fall, coursing down her cheeks until only stains were left behind. She wiped them away with the frayed sleeve of her shirt, giving one last sniffle.

She stood up quickly and shook herself fully awake, shedding the nightmare with a practiced ease. She pulled out the small water canister she carried with her and took a small sip, just enough to last her through the morning. Looking at the crow, who still sat on the ground staring up at her, she motioned for it to follow then began to walk at a quick pace.

She walked until mid-afternoon, the crow flying just ahead of her, slowing down when she spotted a village in the distance.

The village wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't tiny either. Ruby stayed to the side and as far away from the hustle and bustle of the town as possible. She still couldn't really talk to people, even after months of travel, which is what normally had her resorting to stealing, that and the fact that she was penniless.

Finding an inconspicuous hiding spot in between two houses, Ruby decided to wait until the town quieted down to make a move. It was a solid plan, one that had worked seamlessly in almost every town, but there were always exceptions, and this town proved to be one of them soon enough.

"Is that her?"

"Yeah it is, red cape and all. Exactly how Will described her."

"Hey! Get up, witch!"

The loud calls woke Ruby up from her doze, and found herself staring at the sharp edge of a pitchfork.

Looking wide eyed at the crowd of furious men that surrounded her, she used her speed on reflex to dart away, drawing Crescent Rose a soon as she was behind them.

"What do you want?" Ruby asked, keeping her voice low.

"That's what we should be asking you, devil." One of the men said, practically spitting the words out.

"Who do you think you are, going around and killing people? Well we won't let you get away with it here!" Another shouted.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, she definitely didn't remember killing anybody at the last town, but then again, Crimson had been in control most of the time…oh no, what did Crimson do?

"Don't try that crap with us, we know what you are!" An angry voice shouted, the man walking forth from the crowd to stand in front of Ruby. "You slaughtered half of Kiso village for no reason and then you show up here. Well I have news for you, you won't be leaving anytime soon, not if we can help it."

He charged then, pitchfork at the ready. He was easily dodged by a downwards shot from Crescent Rose, shooting Ruby up into the air and onto the nearest roof. She turned and ran, hopping from roof to roof, intending to flee as fast as she could.

She almost succeeded, until her path was intercepted by dust infused bullets, ones that only a huntsman would have. She found the source quickly, a hulking woman wielding a rifle-hammer mix, giving her a cold stare from the ground below.

Ruby wasn't scared, the woman was sure to be too slow to catch her, so all Ruby had to do was outrun the bullets and then she was home free. So she did, until a blur manifested itself in front of her, slashing at her with twin daggers.

She tried to run the other way, only to be blocked again by the daggers. Stopping, she analyzed her two opponents. The blur turned out to be a man with bright ginger hair and brown eyes. Apparently, a partner to the hulking woman, seeing as they now stood side to side with confidence.

"Step aside, I don't want to fight." Ruby warned, glancing to check on her ammo stock. It was as full as it could be, given that she saved up ammo just as much as she did water and food.

"We don't want a fight either, but we have a job to do. Now come quietly." The woman ordered her voice deep and threatening. The man at her side nodded in agreement, shifting his feet in preparation.

Ruby only hummed in response, planning a strategy since shaking these two off was not likely. And what was worse was the fact that the two seemed to complement each other perfectly, in both personality and skill range. Although the crow seemed to think otherwise, sitting beside her on the roof like it didn't have a care in the world.

Taking some of the crow's confidence, Ruby lunged down, darting straight in for a frontal attack. Crescent Rose was stopped by the woman's hammer, and Ruby spun quickly to avoid the man's attempted strike. Ruby leapt back, running a circle around the two, her speed creating enough force to lift them up in the air. While they were suspended and helpless, Ruby shifted Crescent Rose into full sniper mode, shooting at the two as she ran around them.

Ruby was hoping to wear them down enough with bullets alone, until the man found his balance in her rose petal tornado and unleashed a bout of wind dust, a gust strong enough to knock Ruby back, breaking the whirlwind apart and setting the two huntsmen down with a thud.

The two huntsmen wasted no time, the man charging at her, daggers glowing bright orange with fire dust. The woman stood where she had fallen, banging her hammer against the ground, releasing earth dust into the ground, literally causing the ground to ripple outwards, sharp pieces of rock shooting from the ground and aiming straight at Ruby.

This might be a problem, just a tiny one. Ruby focused her attention on dodging the man's blow, the heat from his dagger singing her clothes and skin if they got to close. She managed to avoid all his blows thus far, only at the expense of being hit by a few rock shards. She could feel her aura straining itself to block the injuries, and knew that she wouldn't last long like this. She had to think of something, and soon.

She finally saw an opportunity when the man made to hasty a lunge, finally leaving himself open to a counter attack. Spinning an unfurled Crescent Rose, Ruby swept the man off his feet. He landed face first on the ground, moving faster than his partner could, Ruby used the curve of Crescent Rose's blade to throw him into the air. She shot up into the air after him, pointing Crescent Rose up and spiraling, the blow didn't injure him, but it did break his aura with a sharp crack of purple light.

The man feel limply on the ground while Ruby used the ricochet from her bullets to propel herself through the air at the woman who stood ready with her hammer.

Ruby swung Crescent Rose full force, but the strike was easily blocked by the woman's hammer, and Ruby was thrown back. Bouncing back as soon as she landed, Ruby bolted forward to try and get in a hit on the woman. With her enhanced speed, Ruby was easily able to twist and turn her way around the woman's defenses. Without her partner to help her, the woman was simply unable to keep up with Ruby, no matter how hard she tried to.

It was over in minutes, the woman's aura vanishing with a satisfying pulse of green light. Ruby stood over her proudly, that was, until she realized that she was on the edge of losing her aura as well, and that the angry villagers hadn't disappeared like she had hoped.

They surrounded her, and her speed was now not an option, she simply didn't have enough aura to use it for longer than a single step at most, if she even got that far. Ruby was on her own, without aura, against over a dozen armed, and very mad, villagers. In hindsight, Ruby realized that she should have ran as soon as the man had been taken out, but she didn't have time to lament over bad choices.

She spun around, keeping the sharp edge turned towards her, so that the villagers she hit were only knocked back. They would have plenty of bruises, but it wouldn't kill anyone.

Even with the people she had knocked aside, there were still more to take their places, and soon Ruby began to feel her body start to slow down from exhaustion. Her arms screamed at her to stop swinging, her legs burned as they were forced to dance around the villager's blows.

Searching desperately for a way out, Ruby finally took the chance and shot a bullet into the crowd. They all threw themselves out of its path to Ruby's relief, and a path was finally clear. Ruby ran as fast as she could without her semblance, running to hide behind a building when her legs finally couldn't take the strain anymore.

She leaned against the wall, breath coming out in frantic gasps. She couldn't think of a way out of this, no matter how hard she tried.

 _"Just let me kill them for you."_ Crimson whispered in her head.

"No. I'm not going to let you out to kill anyone, that's why we ended up her in the first place." Ruby growled in response.

 _"They're going to kill you if you don't act, we might as well return the favor."_ Crimson retorted.

"No, I can still figure this out. I just need more time." Ruby said, even as the enraged shouts grew closer.

" _What you need is me, you know it. I'm stronger than you, better than you. I'm what got us away from her in the first place, even if you don't remember. I've saved you over and over again. And what have you done for yourself? Nothing. I'm the one who gets the intel, who gets the clues we want. Me, not you."_ Crimson raged.

"That's not the point here Crimson." Ruby said, head jerking up when she saw the crow fly its way onto her shoulder. She stroked its head gently, trying to forget about the whole situation for a second.

"Your right, it's not. The point is that I should have control, not a wimp like you." Crimson said coldly.

"What do you-" Ruby started to ask, before her head burst out in agony. It was Crimson, Ruby could feel it, she was trying to escape, to take control forcefully.

"Crimson! Stop!" Ruby shouted, not caring who heard her. Her hands shot up to her head, accidentally knocking the crow off her shoulder. Shaking itself off, it hopped over to Ruby's foot and gave it a peck, getting the struggling girl's attention.

"Wha-ah!" Ruby exclaimed, flinching as another wave of pain flooded through her. She was losing to Crimson, no matter how hard she fought. She could feel her consciousness being forced back bit by bit, but she was just too tired to put up a real fight.

"Hey Uncle Qrow- god that really is a stupid name -you probably shouldn't stay around much longer. Looks like Crimson got me this time." Ruby said softly, tears forming in her eyes. The pain was at least dulling as Crimson forced Ruby further back.

"It'll be a little while before I come back though, but I'll see you then, okay?" Ruby said, holding back a sob. The crow crooned softly at her, rubbing it's head against her leg in a gesture of comfort. It then flew off, heading straight towards the villagers.

Ruby gave the crow a small, sad, wave as it flew around the corner, presumably to move on with its normal life as a crow. Still sniffling, Ruby took in as much detail of the surrounding area as she could, from the hint of fall she could taste in the air to even the cries of vengeance and blood that were almost upon her. She took it all in and cherished it, for she knew that it would be the last time to feel anything for who knows how long.

 _"Stay there for a while. I'm in control now."_ Crimson said cheerfully as Ruby was finally wrenched from her position and thrown into the black void of what was now Crimson's subconscious.

A voice trickled through the emptiness, it sounded close, right beside her. Ruby only picked up pieces of what it said though.

"Wait-Qrow Branwen-I'm a huntsmen-I've studied the situation-just let me try to help her before-" But the darkness swallowed up Ruby completely, leaving only distorted sounds an images within her grasp. The one voice she could hear as it snarled victoriously, was Crimson's.

 _"To late"_

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 **Sorry if the fight scene was a little lacking, I'm still getting the hang of them.**


End file.
